St. Louis Cardinals already regretting Jon Lester trade

One start into the Jon Lester era in St. Louis Cardinals history and it’s likely that the Redbirds are already wondering why they made a trade for him.

Lester made his debut for the Cardinals on Tuesday night and the results were anything but impressive. In five innings, the 37-year-old southpaw surrendered six runs on nine hits as the Atlanta Braves went on to record a 6-1 victory in St. Louis.

However, the final box score doesn’t tell the whole story. Lester’s tenure in St. Louis got off to a horrid start as the first seven Atlanta batters reached base successfully against him.

Yes, the Jon Lester trade is already being regretted by the St. Louis Cardinals

A leadoff walk by Ozzie Albies on a full count was followed by Jorge Soler’s first homer in a Braves uniform and St. Louis was quickly down 2-0. From there, Atlanta batters logged three straight singles before Lester walked Adam Duvall, forcing a mound visit.

Before Atlanta pitcher Max Fried grounded out to end the frame, St. Louis was already down 5-0 and the Redbird faithful were scratching their heads. After all, this is the same Lester who owned the Cardinals as a member of the Boston Red Sox pitching staff during the 2013 World Series, allowing one earned run over 15.1 innings. This is the same Lester who helped the rival Chicago Cubs win the World Series in 2016 and racked up eight wins over the Cardinals during his time in an opposing uniform.

But that was then. This, unfortunately for Cardinals fans, is now.

"“[Eight] pitches in and down 2-0, it’s like 30 seconds into a fight and you get hit in the chin,” Lester said after his St. Louis debut. “You don’t know where you’re at.”"

Acquired from the Washington Nationals in exchange for outfielder Lane Thomas as a trade deadline deal, Lester was brought in for veteran leadership and to eat innings for a Cardinals rotation that has been dealing with injuries throughout the season. While Lester did snap back into form after that rough first inning on Tuesday, there are still plenty of questions about what he has left in the tank in a career that saw him make his Major League debut on June 10, 2006.

So far this season, Lester’s strikeout numbers are similar to last season’s career-low of 6.2 per nine innings. He’s also allowing a career-high 11.2 hits per nine innings this season, and compare the ERA+ of 72 this season to his ERA+ mark of 171 leading the Cubs to the pennant in 2016.

St. Louis is hoping that Lester and fellow veteran J.A. Happ (also acquired at the deadline) can hold down the fort until Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas can return from injury. However, if Lester can’t show any better than he did in his St. Louis debut, the Redbirds’ plan to tread water until their return is going to sink the ship.